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| The '''PlayStation 2''' is ]'s second ], after the PlayStation. | |||
| Its development was announced in April ], and it was first released in ] on 4 March 2000. | |||
| The PS2 can read ], for playing audio CDs and original <nowiki>PlayStation</nowiki> games, and ]s for DVD Video and PS2 games. Its ability to play DVD movies was an important selling point at a time when few people owned a separate DVD player. | |||
| When it was released, the PS2 had many advanced features that were not present in other contemporary video game consoles, including its DVD capabilities and ] and ] expansion ports. | |||
| It was not until late ] that the ] ] became the second console with DVD support, although playing DVD-Video titles on XBox requires the purchase of an additional module (containing decoder software and a remote control). | |||
| Most reviews claim the PS2's DVD support to be mediocre at best. | |||
| Support for original <nowiki>PlayStation</nowiki> games was also an important selling point for the <nowiki>PS2</nowiki>, letting owners of an older system upgrade to the <nowiki>PlayStation 2</nowiki> and keep their old software, and giving new users access to older games until software was developed for the new system. | |||
| Software for all <nowiki>PlayStation</nowiki> consoles contains one of three region codes, for Japan, the Americas, or Europe. | |||
| Discs also deviate slightly from the CD-ROM and DVD-ROM standards in ways that make it impossible for the average consumer to duplicate discs or create her own software for the system. | |||
| However, Sony has released a version of the ] operating system for the PS2 in some regions in a package that also includes a keyboard and hard disk drive. | |||
| === Specifications === | |||
| *CPU: 128 Bit "Emotion Engine" clocked at 300 MHz | |||
| **System Memory: 32 MB Direct Rambus | |||
| **Memory Bus Bandwidth: 3.2 GB per second | |||
| **Co-Processor: FPU (Floating Point Multiply Accumulator x 1, Floating Point Divider x 1) | |||
| **Vector Units: VU0 and VU1 (Floating Point Multiply Accumulator x 9, Floating Point Divider x 1) | |||
| **Floating Point Performance: 6.2 GFLOPS | |||
| **3D CG Geometric Transformation: 66 million Polygons Per Second | |||
| **Compressed Image Decoder: MPEG2 | |||
| *Graphics: "Graphics Synthesizer" clocked at 150MHz | |||
| **DRAM Bus bandwidth: 48 GB Per Second | |||
| **DRAM Bus width: 2560 bits | |||
| **Pixel Configuration: RGB:Alpha:Z Buffer (24:8:32) | |||
| **Maximum Polygon Rate: 75 Million Polygons Per Second | |||
| *Sound: "SPU2+CPU" | |||
| **Number of voices: 48 hardware channels of ADPCM on SPU2 plus software-mixed channels | |||
| **Sampling Frequency: 44.1 KHz or 48 KHz (selectable) | |||
| *I/O Processor | |||
| **CPU Core: Current PlayStation CPU (MIPS clocked at 33.8 MHz or 37.5 MHz) | |||
| **Sub Bus: 32 Bit | |||
| **Interface Types: Proprietary <nowiki>PlayStation</nowiki> controller port, ], and ] (USB) | |||
| **Communication via PC Card (]) | |||
| *Disc Media: DVD-ROM (CD-ROM compatible) with copy protection | |||